Playing Games
by gen'ei honsho
Summary: A series of one shot stories revolving around Sesshomaru and Kagome playing games as they grow up.  The rating of this story may change as they grow older.
1. Leader of the Pack and Bury the Bonehead

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Inuyasha.

_AN: Several reviewers have asked that I continue with this one shot. Okay. This will be a collection of one shots revolving around Sesshomaru and Kagome playing games as they grow up. I am giving Kagome's mom the name Saya since her name is still an illusive mystery. There is some OOC behavior. The ratings will change as they get older. Please enjoy._

**Playing Games**

Leader of the Pack and Bury the Bonehead

Sesshomaru (8), Inuyasha (6) and Kagome (5)

It was a nice spring day. The smell of the rain from the night before intertwined with the scent of the flowers in the garden as a gentle breeze caressed them. Occasionally a few colorful songbirds would flit from one place to another temporarily marring the otherwise pure white puffs floating lazily in the sky. The ground had been softened by the spring shower.

"What a wonderful day for weeding the garden," Mrs. Higurashi commented to the little girl whose hand she was holding as they walked to the rose section her employer's garden.

"I got my bucket and shovel to dig up the weeds a throw them away, mama," said the 5 year old ebony-haired, doe-eyed Kagome smiling up at her mother and holding up her yellow plastic bucket and shovel. She was a mini version of her mother. Both wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, jeans overalls, a white tee shirt, rubber boots and gardening gloves. Of course Kagome's gloves were five times too big for her little pudgy hands.

"That's good, dear," Saya praised her daughter as they came to their destination, "Now be careful, Kagome, don't pick up anything sharp and don't play with any creature you do not recognize." She put down her weeding accessories next to the first bed or roses.

"Yes, mama," she replied as she watched her mother pull out two pads and put them on the ground. Kagome kneeled down on the one in front of her waiting for her mother to do the same. As soon as Saya knelt down, mother and daughter started removing weeds.

Ten minutes into their weeding, two white heads bobbed into sight. The employer's young sons, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, had picked up Kagome's scent and wanted to play. Sesshomaru wore a white kimono with purple honeycombs and flowers around the neck and sleeves, a purple and white obi, white hakama and black boots. Inuyasha wore his favorite outfit a red hitoe, white kosode, red obi and red hakama and was barefoot.

Saya looked up as soon as she noticed their presence. She smiled and bowed to the two boys, "Good morning, Sesshomaru-sama, Inuyasha-sama." Kagome smiled at her two playmates that came to rescue her and took off her hat and gloves.

"Good morning, Mrs. Higurashi," Sesshomaru said bowing slightly, "May Kagome come play with us?"

Before she could answer, Inuyasha had already roughly pulled up the kneeling Kagome by her arm and was dragging her along behind him back in the direction from which he and Sesshomaru had come. "Come on, Kagome," Inuyasha flashed a fanged smile and ordered her, "We're gonna play Leader of the Pack. I'm gonna be the alpha and you're gonna be my mate." Sesshomaru's eyebrow arched and twitched at the same time in reaction to his half-brother's words.

"Yes, Kagome may play with you," she giggled at the younger males antics before answering the polite Inu pup and then added, "Play nice and be polite Kagome."

"Yes, mama," Kagome replied as she tried to wrestle her arm away from Inuyasha, "Inuyasha, lemme go! I can walk on my own you know." Sesshomaru quickened his pace to catch up to the two younger children.

"Well, get a move on, stupid girl," Inuyasha complained ignoring the daggers being stared into his back by his brother. Walking only a short time, they arrived at the playground. Inuyasha proceeded to climb up to the fort located next to the slide. Once he reached his destination, he got on the slide and slid down howling.

When he landed from his descent, Inuyasha expected to see Kagome waiting for him. Instead, she was sitting on the swing being pushed by Sesshomaru. 

"Higher, Sesshomaru," Kagome called out as she laughed.

Sesshomaru, smiling, stood silently and waited for her return so he could push her higher. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the bane of his existence stomping toward him. Sesshomaru pushed Kagome one more time before Inuyasha came up to his side, "Who do you think you are? I'm the alpha and she's my mate! She does what I want her to do!" He reached out and grabbed the swing chain and jerked it to a stop making Kagome fall off and hit her head on the ground. She put her hand to her head and started crying.

Inuyasha put his hands on his head and began to panic. He started hopping around Kagome in a circle occasionally removing his hands from his head to motion her to stop crying, "Please don't cry, Kagome, I didn't mean it."

"You're a meanie, Inuyasha," she said in between sobs.

Sesshomaru growled at Inuyasha and stated in an angry voice, "Since we're playing Leader of the Pack, I challenge you for position of the alpha." He walked over to his half brother and whacked him on the back of his head with a fist. Inuyasha fell to the ground knocked out cold by Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru sat on the ground next to Kagome calming her down by wrapping his fluffy tail around the injured girl. "I guess I'm the alpha now," he stated and then said, "I say we play a new game. One I call Bury the Bonehead."

Kagome sniffed a couple of times and smiled, "I'll need to go get my bucket and shovel so I can play."

"Okay," Sesshomaru said helping her up, "Inuyasha and I will start playing."

"'kay, be right back," Kagome said as she raced back to her mother.

"Kagome," Saya questioned her daughter's return. "Why have you been crying and what are you going to do with your toys?"

"Inuyasha was being mean, so Sesshomaru said we could play a new game called Bury the Bonehead," Kagome explained before she skipped off to play.

- Ten Minutes Later -

Saya was pulling some weeds when Lord Inu came up startling her, "Have you seen my pups?"

"Oh, you scared me," Saya said bowing to her employer.

"I apologize," he said, "I've tried to sniff out my boys, but all I smell is dirt, rain and flowers mixed with a faint scent from both my boys and Kagome. Their scent is everywhere so I'm having trouble pinpointing their location."

"They were playing Leader of the Pack, but Kagome came back to get her shovel and bucket because Inuyasha was being mean. She said Sesshomaru changed the game to one called Bury the Bonehead," Saya explained to Inu.

Inu's eyes flew open, "Which direction did she go?" He asked urgently. Saya stood up and pointed in the direction she last saw Kagome skipping. He took off running with Saya following behind him.

Finally, Inu heard the tinkling of Kagome's laughter near the koi pond. Both concerned adults walked closer to the laughter and saw dirt flying through the air. Small clods of dirt were being hurled out of a hole, landing on Kagome and an unconscious Inuyasha. Saya put her hand to her mouth in disbelief and Inu growled.

"Sesshomaru!" He barked. A rather large white dog popped his head up from a huge hole in the ground. He tried not to look guilty, but his mud-covered paws gave him away. "What in Kami's name are you doing?"

"We're playing Bury the Bonehead," Kagome innocently said still giggling as she pulled clods of dirt from her hair, "Sesshomaru and I are doing the burying and Inuyasha is the bonehead."


	2. Old Maid and Go Fish

Disclaimer: I do not Inuyasha or anything associated with said creation.

_AN: Last time while Playing Games, Sesshomaru (8), Inuyasha (6) and Kagome (5) played the made up games Lead of the Pack and Bury the Bonehead. I would like to give my readers a chance to play some games. When you review this chapter, let me know of a game(s) you would like to see Sesshomaru and Kagome engaged in with or without other characters and their ages at the time they play the game(s). If you make up a game please let me know the rules so the characters may interact appropriately or not. The chapter revealing the story will be dedicated to the one(s) who suggested the game(s) and the participants. In this story, Kagome has just turned eight catching her up to Inuyasha—I'm making their birthdays like two months apart. If you would like to see what Sesshomaru and Kagome are wearing go to my bio and click on the links. Also I have a link to what the birthday gift looks like. So without further ado, here is the next inning of Playing Games._

**Playing Games**

Old Maid and Go Fish

_Another Disclaimer: I do not have any claim on the creation of these card games._

Sesshomaru (10), Inuyasha (8) and Kagome (8)

Almost two years after the Bury the Bonehead incident, the two sons of Inu Taisho were once again spending time with their favorite playmate, Kagome. They were in a gazebo overlooking the same koi pond where just a few feet away Sesshomaru had dug a hole for the bonehead aka Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru was wearing a boys cobalt blue and white kimono with clouds and big silver fu dog _(looks like his true demon form)_ on the back with his mokomoko-sama wrapped around his body looking like it was an extension of the fu dog's tail and his favorite style of black boots. He sat on one of the built-in benches with his head and back leaning against a square wooden column as he listened to his mp3 player with his eyes closed. His legs were bent at the knees with his feet flat on the bench and he rested his hands on his knees as he held his music player. He sighed as a gentle breeze brushed strands of his silver hair across his face.

Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting together on another built-in bench across from Sesshomaru closest to the water playing the card game "Old Maid". Inuyasha was wearing his favorite red garb and was barefoot as usual. He sat on one leg he had tucked under himself, like half of the Indian style sitting position, and latched that same leg's foot behind his other leg which was impatiently swinging to and fro. The same breeze that had caressed Sesshomaru's hair seemed to blast Inuyasha's back away from his face revealing his irritated expression. "Come on, STUPID pick a card already why don't ya'," he barked at Kagome shaking three cards he had fanned out in his hand in front of her.

Sesshomaru opened one eye to watch his idiot brother antagonizing Kagome yet again. He opened his other eye to gaze in her direction and determined that she was wearing one of the outfits Mrs. Higurashi must have purchased for her daughter's birthday that had passed a few days ago. He wanted to be at her party to see everyone's expression when she opened his gift. Instead, he had to go to his birthmother's house for the weekend to attend some big party she had planned to introduce him to other yokai parents and their daughters with the intent of arranging a match when it was time for him to take a mate.

Now, he was with Kagome and Inuyasha where he wanted to be—well not with Inuyasha. Sesshomaru smiled slightly as he watched the breeze that had already touched Inuyasha and his self blow her hair wildly about her face making it stick to her lips and covering her eyes. A frustrated Kagome sharply blew her breath upward trying to detach her hair from all parts of her face. She glared at Inuyasha and said, "Keep your shirt on dog boy." This comment curved the corners of Sesshomaru's mouth slightly higher.

He pulled the mp3 player's earphones from his ears to address Kagome. "I like your shirt," Sesshomaru commented thinking how the saying on her shirt was so true. It was a picture of a monkey holding a banana and the phrase was "My Little Brother Drives Me Bananas." _(This is the property of and trademarked by the clothing manufacturer Faded Glory©) _"So does your baby brother, Sota, drive you as insane as Inuyasha does to me?" He asked the girl with two cards in her hands.

"You two looove birds quit your yappin' so the little wench can pick a card," Inuyasha teased causing Kagome to blush and Sesshomaru to growl.

"Shut up, Inuyasha," Kagome shouted as she angrily shoved her hand out to his three cards and hurriedly picked one at random.

"Ha! Ha!" Inuyasha laughed already celebrating his victory with a little dance while he was still sitting. He broke out in a victory song to go with his dance, "Uh huh! Uh huh! You lose! I win! You're the loser! I'm the winner."

Kagome let out a big sigh and hung her head in defeat because she knew there was no way Inuyasha would draw the one card that would allow her to win. He would use his sense of smell to see which card had his freshest scent and avoid it. The whole game Kagome had managed not to draw the "Old Maid" into her hand and now she had it. Sesshomaru was not pleased as his keen nose picked up the salty smell indicating that she was about to cry. He kept his composure as he watched the heart wrenching scene play itself out.

"Kagome's the old maid," he teased her by singing the words to hurt her feelings. "Nobody will ever marry you. You'll be all alo . . ." his eyes grew big as panic started to overtake him as he smelled her tears coming. 'Sesshomaru's gonna' kick my ass again,' was all Inuyasha could think.

"Shut up you cheater!" The teary eyed girl screamed at the dog-eared boy as she threw her cards at him and bolted out of the gazebo running as fast as she could to her home. Inuyasha shifted his eyes to where his brother was sitting and started to relax when he did not sense that Sesshomaru was going to kill him. Satisfied that his brother was not coming after him, Inuyasha looked back to Kagome just in time to see her trip and fall down.

"You can't even run in your stupid pink punk rocker sneakers, dummy," the young hanyou shouted at her. He almost jumped out of his skin when he looked back to Sesshomaru only to see him standing next to him.

"Would you like to play another card game, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked without any indication of his feelings at the moment.

"Sure," Inuyasha said with a gulp pulling out a regular deck of cards from his sleeve. "What do you want to play?"

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow and looked Inuyasha in the eyes before smirking, "How . . . about . . . 'Go Fish'?" He asked deliberately accentuating his words as two steps towards Inuyasha and on the words, 'Go Fish,' he shoved his half-brother in the chest pushing him over the ledge of the bench and into the cold water of the koi pond. "I'm amused that you take pride in not only physically but also verbally abusing a female, Inuyasha. I'm sure father is very proud of you," He stated literally looking down his nose at the now soaking wet hanyou. Before Inuyasha could yell at him, Sesshomaru turned and calmly walked out of the gazebo and over to where the sobbing Kagome had fallen.

She was sitting with her head on her knees and her hands covering her face when she felt someone touch her back. "Don't pay any attention to that baka's words, Kagome," the sound of Sesshomaru's soothing voice and his presence seemed calmed her down some what. He knelt down beside her, reached inside his kimono and produced a silver crescent moon shaped box that he placed in front of her, "Happy Birthday."

Kagome wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and looked from the box to Sesshomaru. "You didn't have to get me anything," she said as she carefully took the box from his hands. She opened the box revealing a blue velvet-lined interior encasing two generously sized silver hair barrettes. They were crescent moon shaped with magenta colored crystals outlining the moon and the sakura blossom in the center. The petals of the flowers and the centers of the moons were comprised of tiny pink pearls. Kagome's eyes showed surprise and her mouth hung open in disbelief and she managed to say, "They're so beautiful. They must have cost a fortune."

"Father allowed me to commission Hosenki's Jewelers to make them especially for you," Sesshomaru said with a bit of pride showing because of Kagome's reaction. "Here, allow me," he said taking the barrettes out one by one and, minding his claws, carefully placed them in her hair on either side of her head just above her ears. Her thick ebony locks were now pulled back away from her face revealing a slight blush across her nose and cheeks. "There," he said satisfied with the results of his first efforts at hair styling.

Kagome used the shiny lid from the jewelry box as a make-shift mirror to admire the barrettes holding back her hair. "Thank you so much, Sesshomaru-sama," she said with a smile as she touched them. "I really love them. I will never stop wearing them," she promised as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

Sesshomaru froze not knowing how to react to the hug so he waited until she was done to stand. He offered his hand to her, which she took, and pulled her up from the ground. She let go of this hand to brush the grass and dirt from the lower part of the capri pants she was wearing. He bent his right arm and offered his elbow to her, "I would consider myself very privileged if you would allow me to escort you home, Kagome."

"I would be honored to have you walk me home, Sesshomaru-sama," Kagome smiled and put her hand in the crook of his bent arm. The two children began their leisurely walk through the garden in the direction of Kagome's home. "I feel like we're forgetting something," stated Kagome looking as if she were trying to remember something important.

"Hey! Wait up! Come back here!" Inuyasha called out to them but only Sesshomaru heard him.

He casually glanced over his shoulder to see Inuyasha floundering in the water struggling to get out of the pond, "Oh it's probably nothing important. I'm sure we'll remember what it is later," he said nonchalantly as he and Kagome continued walking disappearing from Inuyasha's sight.


End file.
